“Yeah, I don’t know (why it took so long for a fight to materialize). Of course I wanted to get in there right away, but it didn’t work out that way and it’s kinda worked out for the better because I’ve had a lot of time to get better. Everyday, I’ve trained a little bit harder to get ready for this debut,” says Hughes in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.

It has been six months since the last time Hughes fought, which isn’t the longest gap in fights for the heavyweight in his professional MMA career.

Hughes, who enters a weight class currently ruled by Daniel Cormier, says its the perfect time to enter the heavyweight division.

“Yeah, there has been (a lot of movement in the rankings). This is a great time for new guys to come in, I still think this is one of the best times in the divisions ever been. There’s talent top to bottom, before it was hard…sometimes you couldn’t even name the top ten guys. Now, they’re household names. So its gonna be…this is still a good time to come in, everybody is coming in with the intentions of getting that belt,” says Hughes.

UFC Fight Night Wichita takes place on Saturday, March 9 from the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas with Derrick Lewis and Junior Dos Santos headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on ESPN+.